


pouring rain

by mak (cold_blue_eyes)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Future Fic, Kid Fic, M/M, Stiles is a father
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 20:52:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14245524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cold_blue_eyes/pseuds/mak
Summary: Stiles' Jeep breaks down in the rain when he's coming back to Beacon Hills with his kid in tow. The Sheriff can't go get him, so he sends Derek in his place.





	pouring rain

Derek was in the middle of putting mayo on his bread when his phone rang in the counter. That had been his attempt at making some dinner since he was home alone and no place in town wanted to deliver in the deep of the woods. Part of him was glad he’d been halted from that sorry excuse of a meal.

“Hello?” 

“Derek, is that you?” It took a moment there for Derek to recognize that voice. 

“Sheriff?” He balanced the phone between his shoulder and ear as he put the lid on the mayonnaise jar. Derek didn’t catch any distress coming from the other side of the line, so that’s why he didn’t go into high alert.

“Yes, Son. I called because Stiles’s Jeep died on the road some twenty miles from town, and he’s bringing Milo home from the visit to the grandparents. Stiles was probably low on battery and the call ended before we could finish talking-”

“That’s no good,” said Derek, putting his hands on the counter.  

The Sheriff continued. “I can’t go and pick them up now, and I wouldn’t be asking you this if I could, but Milo’s probably tired and Stiles won’t be any different. You do know how the boys get when they’re like that.” The man sighed tiredly.

Stiles and his kid had a complicated relationship ever since Milo came to Beacon Hills after his mom left him with the grandparents in San Diego and disappeared from the picture. Her parents loved the kid, but Stiles wanted to be close to Milo and they agreed with that. They were still in a rocky period now of settling in with a new routine, so the last thing they needed was to be cramped together in the death-trap of Stiles’ Jeep in the rain. 

“Did Stiles say exactly where he was?” Derek washed his hands in the sink as he asked. 

“Just past the county line, off the Interstate.”

Derek hummed an answer. “I can go get them.”

“Thanks, Son,” said the Sheriff, relieved. “And, Derek?”

“Yes?”

“Get them some food, okay? Milo’s hungry all the time, because he’s Stiles’ son after all, and I’m sure some real food will help lighten up the mood,” said the Sheriff. Derek had wondered if Stiles had the time to prepare his good meals or if he was just running headless without knowing what to do with a kid under his wing, and he got his answer now. 

Derek nodded to himself, but then looked at the sad loaf of bread in front of him and the mayonnaise jar. He’d have to really cook something after all.

“I can do that,” he said to himself more than anyone else.

“Thanks, Derek. I’ll owe you one.”

“No problem, Sheriff.”

When the call ended Derek was already walking to the living room to get shoes on, then he grabbed his keys before leaving the house. He ran to the garage on the side, but the rain wasn’t too bad now, so he got in the Camaro and just shook the water off his hair before starting the engine. 

If Stiles was in there with him Derek might throw a yip while he was at it so Stiles could make a dog joke. At least it’d be entertaining for Milo, who had a strange sense of humor on a good day.

From his house it was a short ten-minute ride to the Interstate. Derek wouldn’t take long to find the Jeep when he reached the main road, still, he drove cautiously, watching the road shoulders for signs of a car.

Derek opened the window just a bit so he could catch Stiles’ scent if needed, but maybe it was because he was so attuned to Stiles that he smelled him half a mile before he saw the Jeep. The car was with all lights off but a small ball of a muted brightness inside, which was probably some simple magic Stiles could do. 

It reminded him of Stiles telling Milo of the supernatural world. Although the kid had been born to a witch and a mage, he still was young enough that all of this was new to him, and something he couldn’t yet deal with in fully.

Derek drove past the Jeep and then turned around, easing to a stop just behind Stiles’ car. He left the Camaro idling because of the AC, and then reached back to get his leather jacket before he left. 

Stiles was already opening his door.

“You didn’t need to come here,” Stiles said, shielding his face from the rain with a hand.

“Your Dad called. He can’t come get you two, so I thought of taking the both of you to my house.” Derek hoped Stiles would just say yes and go so they wouldn't stay under the rain for too long.

Stiles looked back at the Jeep, and Derek could just make out Milo inside peeking through the window.

“Milo’s with me,” Stiles said almost like a warning.

“I know.” Derek nodded. “Get his bag. You guys can take a shower; I can lend you some clothes. Then we can eat.”

Derek knew he could take Stiles and Milo back to the city and the Sheriff’s house, but he knew he had food back home, and the situation at their house sometimes was a mess, which wasn’t exactly only Stiles’ fault. The adjustment period was just taking a bit too long. 

Stiles bit his lip as he looked from his car to Derek, and then he nodded, walking back to the Jeep and telling Milo that they were going with Derek.

Without realizing Derek sighed in relief, moving to the Camaro so he could open the doors for both of and then get moving as fast as he could. 

Stiles grabbed a small backpack and brought Milo by the hand. The kid looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but there. Stiles kicked the Jeep’s door closed, not even looking back. The car would probably still be there in the morning, considering very few people crossed this stretch of the road after they build a new section of the Interstate on the other side of town.

“Get in.” Derek motioned for the two of them to come inside and Stiles and Milo moved into the backseat.

“Move over, Milo,” said Stiles as he closed the door. Milo just grumbled, but said nothing as he slid to the other door and slouched against the window. Even in the dark Derek could see the pout, while Stiles just sighed and looked the other way.

Both dad and son were an image of the other.

Derek hit the gas, hoping to make this trip the shortest. 

“Do you have any idea of what happened to the Jeep?” Derek used the excuse to make some small talk. 

“I don’t know,” Stiles shook his head. “The engine has been coughing up dust lately and I haven’t come around to taking it to a shop.” Stiles seemed chagrined as he said it.

“It’s not the first time something like that happens.”

“Probably won’t be the last, but it’s my Jeep,” added Stiles with a final tone, like he didn’t want to discuss this topic He often did that.

As Derek kept his eyes on the road he could sense the growing anxiety coming from Stiles, while Milo just seemed bored and tired. The kid was a mystery to all of them, even though he’d been there for the better part of the last month. Milo knew Beacon Hills from the one visit he did, but most of the time it was Stiles and the Sheriff that drove down the coast to see him, so it wasn’t like Milo was well acquainted with anyone. However surprisingly, Lydia seemed to bring Milo out of his shell more than the other, but that was probably some hereditary inclination towards her he got from Stiles.

“You didn’t need to come,” Stiles said a moment later. Derek looked back through the mirror and noticed Stiles shivering.

He ignored Stiles’ words. 

“Take my jacket,” Derek told him, grabbing his leather jacket and passing back to Stiles, who only looked at it for a moment before he extended a hand.

Derek watched from the corner of his eye as Stiles put the jacket on around his shoulders. Then he looked at Milo, who was still with his eyes aimed out the window.

“Are you cold?” Stiles asked him, but Milo shook his head. 

It was clear in Stiles’ face that he wanted to bring Milo close to his body and hug him to keep him warm, but he wouldn’t do that. Derek didn’t know if they were there yet.

There was a primal part of him that wanted to reach out and cuff Milo on the back of the head for making Stiles seem so unsure about himself, like he lost all the confidence he’s had, but there was also a part of Derek that could understand the kid. Losing a parent and being uprooted wasn’t easy for an adult, much less from someone that didn’t have a hang on their emotions yet. 

“Do you want to call your Dad?” Derek offered, and Stiles turned to him.

“I think, yeah.”

Derek passed his phone to the backseat, and soon enough Stiles was thumbing on the screen to make the call. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone that Stiles knew Derek’s password. He also knew Derek’s bank accounts and the alarm code for his house and the vault, and pretty much everything else in his life. 

Some things he didn’t know, though. And Derek wanted to keep them hidden for now. 

“Hey, Dad,” Stiles said into the phone. Derek didn’t bother listening in on what the Sheriff spoke from the other side, even though it wouldn’t be hard. Instead he tried to pick up on Milo’s emotions, trying to sort them out to offer some insight to Stiles later.

Milo didn’t seem uncomfortable, per se, but he wasn’t completely settled in. He wasn’t afraid of being in a car with Derek and his father, but he also seemed like he wanted to far away from here. Derek could feel the bond between him and Stiles, more than just the blood, and he also felt that there was love, even if it was still buried under a mountain of self-doubt.

It was clear that Milo still didn’t know where he stood with Stiles, and there was the possibility that he feared not being able to fit in. 

“Milo’s fine, Dad. You want to talk to him?” At the mention of the Sheriff the kid perked up, and a lot more warmth wafted from him. It seemed like even though Stiles still didn’t have Milo on his side, the Sheriff managed that just fine to no one’s surprise.

Stiles passed the phone silently to Milo. 

“Hey kiddo, you okay?” Asked the Sheriff from the other side. 

“Yeah.” That answer was almost lost until Milo found his voice. “I’m okay.”

“Did you have a good time with your grandparents?”

Milo shrugged, and then realized he had to say something.

“Yeah.”  

“I’m working tonight, so I asked Derek to take care of you and Stiles, is that okay? I’m sure he’ll find something for you to do. And you can also call me, alright? Tomorrow morning when I leave the station I’m driving by to get the two of you out for some breakfast, what do you say?”

The Sheriff was trying and it was working, at least to some extent. Milo seemed to be in better spirits with that talk. Perhaps the figure of the Sheriff seemed more constant and trustable than someone like Stiles, and that was a notion built from all the years they lived apart, so only time could remedy that.

“Cat got your tongue?” Asked the Sheriff with a smile on his voice. That made Milo huff out a quiet laugh.

“No, Grandpa.” 

“Don’t need to thank me, I wanted to go get you two, but I’m working, so had to ask some good guy to help me.” There was a clear smile in his voice, and Derek could sense Milo looking at him from the backseat.

When they said their goodbyes Milo passed the phone to Stiles, who gave it to Derek. When their hands touched Stiles and Derek stared at each other briefly through the rear-view mirror. Stiles looked exhausted and a part of Derek wanted to reach out and bring Stiles into his arms.

He controlled the urge.

When they got to the Hale house Derek parked the car close to the steps to the porch.

“Put my jacked over his head when we leave the car,” said Derek. 

Stiles nodded as he took brought the leather jacket to his front so he could cover Milo, but before he could do that Milo opened the door of the Camaro and ran to the porch, leaving Stiles and Derek behind. He ran up the steps and then turned around to the car, looking almost too satisfied with himself, but that emotion died out quickly when he realized he was somewhere he didn’t really know.

Derek could sense Stiles’ frustration hitting him like a rock wall. 

“Don’t say a thing,” Stiles warned Derek like he hoped to hear a comment about his ability as a father. He grabbed Milo’s backpack and Derek’s jacket before the left the car. 

Derek killed the engine and followed him.

“Why did you do that?” Stiles chastised Milo as they ascended the steps. Derek moved to the door to leave father and son with some kind of privacy for their talk, but it wasn’t like there was going to be any talk when Milo just crossed his arms and sulked in the corner. 

Stiles let one tear fall, because Derek smelled it in the air. 

“Welcome home,” Derek said, and Stiles and Milo turned to him. 

This time Milo didn’t know what to do, so he waited beside Stiles.

“You can take him to shower in my room. There’s towels in there. Dinner will be ready when you come down,” informed Derek as he opened the door and ushered them inside.

Stiles instructed Milo to take off his shoes, which he did albeit grudgingly. Derek was ready to see Stiles breaking down or exploding any moment now, but Stiles only sighed once more and directed Milo upstairs.

Derek watched them go. 

He couldn’t really do much about Milo, so Derek busied himself in the kitchen instead. His clothes were damp, but he wanted to get started on dinner, after all he did promise Stiles he was going to feed them. His ears were centered on this sole room, trying not to peek at a conversation happening in the bathroom, but a part of Derek kind of knew there wasn’t even much of a conversation going on up there.

Derek found some potatoes in the fridge, a couple of chicken breasts and threw it all together in a pan, chopping onions, mashing garlic and adding tomatoes and green peppers, some salt and rosemary to cook his version of chicken cacciatore. It wasn’t like he had that much time to do it, so Derek sped up his work.

He cooked alone in the kitchen for a good half hour, and then he heard steps coming down from the second floor. 

“You can go watch something on Netflix, okay? Derek’s TV is set just like ours,” because Stiles did both, “and I’m going to the kitchen, but if you need anything you just ask.”

The silence from Milo proved it hard for him to believe the kid would ask if he wanted something. 

Derek could smell that clean scent of a recent shower, but Stiles’ scent still was tired and faint, not like the vivid smell Derek was used to sense. For a moment his ears listened to Milo moving around the room until he got the TV running, and then Stiles walked into the kitchen, though Derek saw him looking back to his son one last time before he came in.

The clothes Stiles loaned from Derek were hanging on his frame, and that only showed how he’s been killing himself in work and with Milo, and how he was forgetting about himself. Even that way, however, Derek couldn’t help but fixate on the smell of the two of them together, the way they mingled and spiraled in the air. Derek’s wolf always wanted a whiff of it. 

Leaving the food to gather Stiles in his arms seemed a good idea, but Derek settled for just gazing toward Stiles, trying to get him with just that look. Stiles nodded to him in that silent communication.

“How are you hanging in there?” Derek asked.

Stiles moved to the counter and leaned against the wood not too far from where Derek was cooking. He crossed his arms and his body sagged against the furniture.

“I don’t know.” Stiles put on a smile, at least to show a strong front, but it seemed hollow. “I’m hoping it won’t take too long before things go back to some kind of normality. I never thought I’d miss supernatural shenanigans, but most of the time I could go back home to run away from them. Now…”

Stiles shook his head.

It seemed like it pained him to admit that the relationship with his kid was the way it was, because it was obvious he loved him, but Derek could understand that not all kinds of love were simple. Sometimes love hurt, and with someone like Peter Hale as his uncle, Derek for sure knew that.

“Did something happen with his grandparents, or Milo’s just being Milo.” Derek stirred the chicken, almost ready by now, and then checked on the oven to see if the bread was toasting.

Stiles breathed deeply. “He seemed fine when I got him, and they want Milo to visit again, but he was silent most of the way back. I don’t know if he doesn’t like them that much or just hates coming here.” Stiles shook his head, confused and sad.

Derek looked at him, saw how Stiles was pale and weak, and then he turned off the burner and gave up on trying not to go to Stiles. 

Stiles looked up when Derek was near him, but didn’t object when Derek’s arms went around him. Stiles in fact seemed to breathe easier when he found himself mashed between Derek’s head and shoulder. 

There was the smell of fresh tears in the air, but Stiles held them back. He did breathe a sigh of relief, though. That embrace put Derek’s wolf in intimate contact with the emotions Stiles felt, and they were as complicated as Derek knew they would be. There was much he couldn’t really understand, but the gist was that Stiles loved Milo and wanted the kid to love him back, but he was also tired of trying and failing, and Derek was sure a part of him would like to be the father that wasn’t a part of Milo’s life, which also made him feel guilty for even thinking of it.

“Sorry for being a mess,” Stiles whispered, then he pushed Derek away, seemingly feeling better, even his smile looked less tired now.

“No problem. We’re always here for each other.”

Stiles had a look on his face that seemed like he wanted to object to what Derek said, but he didn’t. 

“If you want to call Milo, I’m going to set the table and we can eat, okay?” 

“Yeah.” Stiles sent a look toward the food. His stomach growled. 

Derek watched as he walked back to the living room.

There was a silent conversation going on in there as Derek put plates and cutlery on the kitchen table. Stiles and Milo walked in, a distance apart and with Milo looked down to his shoes. He smelled sour and sad, but also frustrated. Derek would like to know if it was about this moment or if there was something else going on.

When the three of them sat down and Derek put the food on the table, Stiles hummed a hungry sound. Derek liked that he provided something for Stiles and that they were all together now, even though Milo seemed to be the piece that didn’t fit in yet.

Derek could see a lot of Stiles in him, and certainly imagined that he would find his place in here. With eyes were the color of honey and hair just a bit darker than Stiles’, Milo didn’t have a many moles in his skin as Stiles had, but the upturned curve of his nose was the same. He was already a looker even though he was barely seven, that was for sure.

Stiles and Milo sat on the same side, and Derek on the other. He grabbed a spoon to serve the chicken; Stiles lifted Milo’s plate to help Derek.

“Are you guys hungry?” Derek asked, trying to break the silence that seemed to fall over them like a blanket. 

Sometimes it was possible to even hear the rain outside.

“I am,” said Stiles, serving himself some chicken and then grabbing some of the toasted bread.

Milo didn’t answer, but as soon as a full plate landed in front of him he started to eat, and after he got a taste of Derek’s food he ate in earnest. Stiles hummed his approval after the first mouthful. 

While they had dinner Derek’s eyes went from Stiles to Milo, and back to Stiles. Derek tried to compartmentalize the fact that Stiles and his kid were there, that Stiles smelled like him and how it seemed like they were playing happy family, just like his wolf wanted to.  

It was hard not to admit that Stiles would be a good person to share his nights and days with. When he wasn’t at the station working with his father, Stiles was always playing up with something supernatural, and most of those times he was around Derek, so in a way they already knew each other pretty well. But Derek longed for more. He wanted to lay down in bed and share his intimate moments with someone, and then wake up beside them the next morning. 

Derek wanted to have breakfast in the kitchen in their underwear, and maybe in the future have his kids jumping on him in the morning to wake him up. It was true he wanted a family, after all he lived with a relatives and siblings all his life before the fire, and he missed that more than anything. But Derek also wanted a family that wasn’t as dysfunctional as it felt right in this moment. 

“Have you had enough?” Stiles asked his son when Milo finished with the food and pushed the plate away from himself.

“Yeah. Thanks,” he mumbled toward Derek, who glanced at him in surprise because Stiles didn’t even prompt him to show gratitude. 

Stiles himself seemed surprised but glad.

“It’s really good,” Stiles added as he continued eating his second plateful. 

Satisfied, Derek left his plate on the table, taking a moment to look at Milo.

The boy sensed he was being watched and stared up to Derek. Their eyes met, and there was some fight in those brown irises, like a silent challenge. Milo dared Derek to say anything about him, but also, it almost looked like Milo was a bit jealous because Stiles came here and was sharing his time with Derek, and didn’t just go home to cater to all of his needs.

“How’s school?” Derek asked, catching Milo off guard because he wasn’t expecting a question. Stiles looked at the two of them, and then expectantly stared at Milo.

“It’s fine.” Milo shrugged.

“Are the kids alright? Have you got any friends?” Derek parked an elbow on the table so he could lean down just a bit and get closer to Milo’s height.

With all the attention on himself Milo suddenly seemed nervous. He looked to his lap and then swallowed dry. There was some embarrassment coming from him, and Derek didn’t like that smell, because he didn’t want to make Milo feel like that. Stiles glanced at him, suspicious that Derek could sense something.

“I don’t like my classmates,” said Milo, but that was a flat-out lie. Derek was pretty sure he wanted to say the opposite.

“And why’s that?” 

Milo lifted his shoulder. “They’re stupid.” Then he looked down again. 

Stiles sighed. “You shouldn’t talk about them like that, you know.” 

Those words were enough to anger Milo a bit, and Derek could see him pressing his hands into fists.

“Kids are stupid,” Milo said, and then he burst into tears, getting up from his chair and running to the living room. 

Derek felt guilty for somewhat prompting that to happen. Stiles looked completely out of his depth right then, following Milo with his eyes. 

“I’m sorry I-” Derek started, but Stiles stopped him with a shake of the head.

“No, no. Maybe it needs to come out.”

Stiles pushed his chair back and got up from the table to go after his son. Derek could see him bracing himself for a conversation. 

Alone in the kitchen, Derek started to gather up the dishes, but this time he couldn’t help but keep and ear out to listen to what they were going to talk about.

“What’s happening, buddy?” Stiles pushed any lack of trust between them aside, and tried to seem comforting while he talked to Milo.

“Nothing.” Milo sniffed, his voice coming out hoarse.

“It’s not nothing when you start to cry because someone asked you about school,” said Stiles.

Derek heard Milo sniffing again, something close to a sob wanting to come out.

“But they don’t like me, Dad.” 

Stiles inhaled as a wave of emotion came from the living room. Maybe Milo hadn’t said that word a lot.

“And why’s that? You didn't do anything to hurt any of them, or said something that made them mad at you? Because you know, whatever you say to me, I still love you, and I will try to make you see that you can be different sometimes, that you don’t need to lash out at everyone. But kids your age, they won’t always let go of those things.”

The smell of regret coming from the living room did enough to tell Derek that Milo felt guilty about something.

“You just have to apologize, you know? If you did or said something wrong, apologize. Tell them you’re sorry, and I’m sure they’re going to be your friends in no time.”

“You sure?” Asked Milo, voice tiny and almost lost in his sadness.

“I’m sure, Milo. I did dumb things too when I was a kid. We all make mistakes, but the most important thing is to learn from them and never do them again, you know?”

He said nothing back, but Derek heard rustling fabric and deep breaths. Derek craned his head to see them hugging. Maybe they were going to finally meet in the middle of all of this. 

Derek felt like he could probably leave them be for now.

He took his time cleaning up the kitchen, and mid-way through his work he heard the TV in the living room coming to life and then the sounds of Gravity Falls’ main theme carrying into the kitchen. 

Halfway through the first episode, Derek finished in the kitchen, and then he crept quietly into the living room to see if the coast was clear. He heard the soft snores coming from Milo.

Stiles noticed Derek coming and glanced at Derek. There was a tiny, hopeful smile on his face as Milo laid down on his lap, sleeping soundly.

“Do you want to take him to bed?” Derek whispered. 

Stiles seemed a bit unsure at first, but then he nodded. With great care he hoisted Milo up, who opened his eyes for a bit, but then pressed them close. Stiles grunted with exertion.

“I’m gonna take you to bed, okay, buddy?” 

Milo nodded into Stiles’ shoulder. Derek watched as Milo’s legs clamped around him. 

“I’ll show you the room.” Derek moved in front of Stiles, and then they climbed up the stairs. 

Derek took them to one of the bedrooms closest to his own. The bed was made, but Derek kicked off some of the pillows to leave only two. He pulled the covers just in time for Stiles to lay Milo down slowly. He took the kid’s shoes off and then his pants as well, leaving him in a shirt and underwear. Stiles covered him with the blanket and sat beside Milo at the edge of the mattress.

Milo was still sleeping. 

Stiles caressed his son gently in the face, pushing some of the hairs away from his eyes. Even exhausted, Stiles smelled like happiness now, but then he had to take those good moments when they came.

Derek stepped close to Stiles and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing him affectionately.

Stiles sighed deeply, and let his head fall over Derek’s hand. He nuzzled Derek’s fingers.

“Thanks,” said Stiles.

Derek just squeezed him on the shoulder again. 

“Do you want some coffee, or tea?” Derek asked in a quiet voice.

Stiles lifted his head and then turned to Derek. “Is there anything that can get me just a bit tipsy?” He inquired with a lopsided smile.

Derek huffed out a laugh. “I can get you something,” he guaranteed, and Stiles breathed a sigh of relief.

They ended up drinking beer in the living room couch. Derek had some brews that were only for werewolves, but because of the pack he always kept stuff that everyone could drink. In a way it felt like some kind of catharsis for Stiles, because he finished his first bottle in a minute and was satisfied because he didn’t ask for more, just sat there, listening to Dipper and Mabel as they discussed about the monster of the week.

Stiles didn’t seem to want to move at all in that moment, which was fine for Derek. Their thighs were touching, the point of contact spreading warmth through Derek. Outside the rain was still going, but inside he was feeling hot already.

He watched Stiles as he followed the characters on TV doing their impressive and dumb things, Stiles smiling and laughing under his breath. Derek didn’t want to take him out of that trance. It seemed like something important had happened that night, and he didn’t want to break that spell.

It got to a point where Derek thought he was being creepy with all the watching he was doing, but then Stiles turned to him one moment, put his bottle on the coffee table, and brought his legs to the couch, hugging himself as he adjusted his body toward Derek.

“Thanks for this,” Stiles told him. 

“I didn’t do much.”

Stiles shook his head. “I don’t know, Milo never calls me dad, and he never confides in me. He never even slept in my lap.” Stiles counted them in his fingers, like they were too many and he couldn’t believe it.

Derek lifted his shoulder, reaching out to put his own bottle on the table so he could turn to Stiles.

“This was bound to happen, it just happened today, probably because of a bunch of different things,” he reasoned. Derek knew deep down that he didn’t have anything to do with that, it was just something that was inside of Milo, those feelings all bottled up, and now they popped open.

Stiles looked at Derek with some languid fire in his eyes, almost adoring in a way, and Derek couldn’t deal with that kind of look, but he also couldn’t turn away. He secretly hoped this moment would last, at least until a time where they would find themselves in the same place, not physically, but emotionally.

When Stiles had been younger Derek could feel the attraction between them, could smell in Stiles how he always was a little turned on, how he was trying to hide his pants or trying not to look at Derek when he started to shed his clothes for a transformation. But those emotions eased up as Stiles got used to Derek, but then the opposite started happening. Derek realized Stiles meant something to him, realized that every time they were close Derek always tried to breathe him in, always tried to feel him, make sure he was safe and near, and then he realized that those feelings were pursuable, if he wanted.

Now that Stiles looked at him like he wanted to grab Derek and have him in his arms, it was hard not to feel the attraction.

Their eyes didn't lie, but their scent didn’t either. Stiles’ smell changed a bit, at first it was unnoticeable, but then it became alive in the air. He shifted in his seat and Derek caught a whiff of something powerful and human, and male, like skin and musk.

“Stiles?” Derek said his name like a prayer.

“Yeah?” Stiles licked his lips, his heart skipping a beat like he was as nervous as Derek felt about all of this.

“If I kiss you right now you won’t run away?” Derek asked, and those words almost felt weak and afraid to come out, because suddenly it wasn’t just about sex and attraction because there was a lot of other things between them.

Stiles seemed caught completely off guard, but then he huffed out a nervous laugh, lowering his head to gather his wits for a moment.

“I was thinking I should run away before I did something stupid like jump on you,” he said. Derek smelled how thick the attraction got in the air.

He couldn’t wait anymore so he advanced over Stiles, who only leaned back on the armrest, opening his legs for Derek to slot himself in the middle of them as their lips met. It was awkward at first because they weren’t really at the same level, Derek’s lips almost on Stiles nose and Stiles having to adjust himself not to fall over to the other side, but when they finally got it right, it was magic. 

It almost seemed like they were just one thing.

Stiles smelled like the rain and all the exhaustion in the world, and he also smelled of his son, but other than that it was all him, all Stiles, the one that called to Derek like no one else, and when their lips were locked it was hard to think of anyone or anything, because Stiles was right there and Derek wanted to savor his moment.

Derek grounded his hips against Stiles, and the unmistakable scent of sex got to his nose. Derek felt Stiles through his pants, hard and aching just as he was. If they kept that up he was going to come in his pants, something he hadn’t done in more than a decade, but it didn’t matter. What he wanted was to keep this moment going, have Stiles under him, over him, have him anywhere, just as long as he was with Derek.

“Hey, hey,” Derek stopped when Stiles pushed him just a little bit away, alarmed.

Before Derek could jump to the other end of the couch Stiles grabbed him by the neck to keep him right there. 

“I want this, okay? But not now.” Stiles shook his head. He looked drained, and Derek felt a bit bad for adding another thing on top of all of it, but Stiles looked warm and happy, and it was a time since Derek saw him like that.

“Okay.” Derek nodded, breathing shallowly not to feel their mingled scents in the air.

Stiles brought a hand to Derek’s face, touching his chin and then travelling up through his beard until he had a hand in Derek’s hair. It was impossible for Derek not to follow that touch and lean onto it. Especially because he wanted some response from Stiles, and Derek smelled that a moment later.

“You make me crazy, Derek. But I just can’t do this right now, there’s just too much happening, and you know I just got a breakthrough with Milo. I want to give him all of my attention now,” it was with regret that he said the words, but Derek didn’t know he would feel proud of Stiles for the decision.

Wolves always sustained great care for their families, and seeing Stiles putting his son first, it was a show of all the growth Stiles went through. It just cemented the fact that right now Derek could let go or his restraints, because Stiles not a kid anymore.

He nodded to Stiles and then leaned down for a peck, trying to chase the taste of Stiles one last time before he got up. They sat on the couch again, side by side, and Stiles lifted an arm for Derek to snuggle against him, and he did.

“This is going to change things, you know?” Said Stiles a moment later, right when another episode of Gravity Falls started.

“How so?”

Stiles shook his head for a moment. “I can’t do this thing just for fun, you know Derek? I think you smelled it in me a thousand times, but I really like you, and it’s been building for a time. But I also can’t just have a fling right now, because Milo needs stability, needs something that will be durable, because I don’t want to break this kid.”

Just like Stiles himself had been broken by the loss of a parent, but he didn’t say it.  

“I know, Stiles.” Derek caught Stiles hand and held it in his. Stiles squeezed him.

“I want him to get better, I want him to like the town, because it’s where we’re going to live, it’s where I want to live.” Derek couldn’t help but feel like there was even more to that than just this, but Stiles didn’t say in his words. 

Maybe it was because the pack lived in Beacon Hills and wouldn’t move away, so Stiles didn't want to lose this. In the same way Derek didn’t want to lose this, because moving away from the pack would be moving away from Stiles.

“He’s going to love this place, Stiles,” Derek reassured him, but Stiles wasn’t all that confident. 

“I hope so.” He looked down to Derek. “I want to stay here, you know?” 

Derek hoped that word meant more than just their town.

“Me too,” Derek told him. Stiles scent got thicker again, but not with attraction and sex, it got those hints of something different, something that was bigger than touch or something fleeting, and Derek could almost sense the depth of those feelings Stiles carried.

He wanted to ask Stiles to sleep with him, but he didn’t do it. Stiles also didn’t volunteer to do that, he just went to Milo’s bedroom later and climbed in bed with him, probably hoping against anything that come morning they’d have cemented their relationship in a way that wouldn’t be broken anymore.

On his own room Derek just wished he wasn’t alone in bed, and somehow he didn’t even mind that it could be Stiles and Milo with him. Now they were a two-for-one, after all. Perhaps Derek could teach someone how to run in the woods, maybe Milo would want to be like the wolves, and just the idea that it could happen was enough for Derek to create some kind of attachment to the kid even though they were still nothing. 

It was all because of Stiles, in the end. Derek couldn’t fathom the idea of living without him, although it seemed too early for that. 

Tomorrow he was going to kiss Stiles again, maybe he was going to make love to him. They’d move slowly. But that was for tomorrow.

Now Derek only had the pouring rain.


End file.
